LED solutions brighten Korea’s crop cultivation

South Korean farmers are facing challenges in crop cultivation thanks to climate change, with an overall decrease in sunlight due to the extended summer monsoon seasons and reduced sunlit days in winter, and are increasingly turning to supplemental light-emitting diode (LED) lighting inside greenhouses.

In a cucumber greenhouse measuring around 4,960-square-meter in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, 223 LED lights were installed in November 2023 just before the winter cucumbers were planted to supplement the natural sunlight. The goal was to address the noticeable decrease in sunlight over the past few years and the lights were only installed in about half of the greenhouse to easily distinguish the areas with and without supplemental lighting.

The results so far have been successful, with the farm reporting that the supplemental lighting increased yields by 20 to 30 percent. The cucumbers grown under the supplemental lighting also exhibited fewer deformities as well as better color and quality, resulting in higher prices in the market.

The lighting equipment used on this farm is a type of 300-watt LED lighting specifically developed for plant growth by Korean lighting company DSE Co. Branded as “HIPPO FarmTech,” this growth lighting emits light of wavelengths specialized for plants. The blue wavelength promotes the growth of leaves, enabling broader and thicker leaves, the green wavelength helps prevent fungus and insect infestation, and the red wavelength promotes photosynthesis, facilitating growth. HIPPO FarmTech lighting uses a combination of blue, green, and red light, as well as a high color rendering index to simulate natural sunlight, which does not feel harsh on the workers’ eyes.

DSE Chief Executive Officer Kang Young-jun confirms the positive impact of their lighting products, saying, “Testing in our in-house plant factories showed a productivity boost of 30 to 40 percent compared to conventional lights.”

The specialized lighting devices are set to expand into smart agriculture, where precise control of environment, including light, is crucial.

The cucumber farm also added that, while they can already control elements like water, nutrients, and temperature, it anticipates enhanced productivity in crop cultivation with precise light control.